Masquerade: Sick, Sick, Sick!
by Marduk42
Summary: Ken's sick, so Daisuke has to take care of him (shenoun-ai)


Sick, Sick, Sick!  
by Marduk  
  
A part of the 'Masquerade' saga.  
  
***  
  
I am sulking at the moment, because I have had a nasty cough for something like a week. And it won't go away. And the Dayquil almost made me vomit (I'm serious! That stuff is the most indigestible substance known to Man.). As a result, I decided to write a Masquerade story. With one of our boys sick. Yay. I must hope you're all more excited about this than me, as you see, I keep expecting to cough up a lung every few minutes. Okay, I'll stop telling you my minor woes, and just get onto the story.  
  
***  
  
Ken: Marduk seems to have forgotten several major points. First, we're not actually Marduk's property.  
Daisuke: Thank god! Have you *seen* the stuff he's got stashed in the closet?  
Ken: We belong to a number of corporations who have deemed it necessary to make me marry Miyako and destroy all of her future potential by making her a housewife...how sad.  
Daisuke: Another thing you should know is that in this fic, Ken and I are living together.  
Ken: And that is *living together* living together, not roommate-type living together.  
Daisuke: *blush*  
Ken: So, if that squicks you, please leave.  
Daisuke: Or if you don't leave, please don't flame. Or...we're not responsible for Marduk's actions.  
Marduk: On with the fic!  
Daisuke: Please help us...he's crazy. He's been reading Ranma 1/2 and been considering sending us on vacation to China.  
Marduk: That's enough out of you!  
Ken: If you want to help us, write to PAAB (People Against the Abuse of Bishounen) at-  
Marduk: On with the fic!  
Ken: Kuso...  
  
***  
  
"Just where do you think you're going, Mr.?" Ken froze, hand on the doorknob.  
"To work."  
"Oh no, you don't! Ken, you're sick, so you're not going to work. Leah knows that, and she's handling everything. So...get back to bed."  
"Suke-chan, I haven't been sick since I was three! I'm not sick. This is just...a functional disturbance." Daisuke appeared in the doorway to the kitchen.  
"Ken...you're going back to bed and get some rest. And take off that tie. You're not going anywhere until you're better."  
"Fine...'Kaasan. But I feel fine; I really-" The bluenette was cut off by a series of hacking coughs that left him wheezing and on his knees. Daisuke was by his side in an instant.  
"I told you to rest, Kenji-koi...you're not going to get better if you run off to work." The redhead lifted his lover off the floor and carried him into the bedroom, depositing him gently onto the mussed covers of their bed. "Now, will you stay here?" Ken nodded mutely. Suddenly Daisuke pressed his hand against Ken's forehead, frowning. "I thought you felt warm...I'm going to get a thermometer." Ken immediately moved to push himself off the bed.  
"Don't worry; I'll get-"  
"No. Sit down, Kenji-koi. You're ill. *I* will take care of everything. *You* will rest, and get better."  
"But I-" Ken stopped talking when Daisuke put his hands on his shoulders.  
"Kenji-koi, I can't bear to see you sick, or hurt, or sad, so I want you to get better as fast as possible. So...can you just rest for me?" Ken tried to open his mouth to argue, but Daisuke used *the eyes*.  
"I...hai. But I'm not happy about this." He crossed his arms stubbornly.  
"Just as long as you listen to me," Daisuke replied happily. Kissing his boyfriend on the nose, Daisuke vanished into the rest of the apartment, presumably to finish the breakfast he has started earlier. Ken glanced around the room, and then grabbed a book from his bedstand.  
'"Witches, and we couldn' fight them. They took them away, the girl and the boy. We don' know where they went. But the woman, she came later. We thought maybe *she* got some kind of knife, to keep the Specters away, all right. And maybe you have, too," she added, lifting her chin-'  
"What're you reading, Kenji-koi?" Ken looked up from his book, and smiled at Daisuke. The red-head placed a tray of food on the bedstand and crawled onto the bed. "What is it?"  
"'The Amber Spyglass'." Ken placed it to one side. "By one of my favorite authors. What did you make?"  
"Tea and oatmeal. With your coughing fits, you shouldn't eat too many solids."  
"I guess." Ken's statement was punctuated by more coughing.  
"Oh! I almost forgot!" Daisuke lifted the thermometer from the tray and shoved it into his boyfriend's mouth. "Three minutes, Kenji-koi." Ken glared at the redhead, who smiled warmly at him. "And after you eat, I'll get you some cough syrup."  
"Thure-just wait unkil I'ze gok thood in before you make me thick!"  
(Translation: Sure-just wait until I've got foor in before you make me sick!)  
"Kenji-koi, cough syrup is not that disgusting."  
"The lastht tine I had couth thyruk, I nearly hrew up."  
(The last time I had cough syrup, I nearly threw up.) Daisuke smiled sadly at him, and kissed Ken on the nose.  
"Kenji-koi...do you know how sad I'll be if you don't get better? Oop-time's up! Hm...100.3. A slight fever. I think I'll just give you Dayquil. That should take care of everything."  
"No! I feel much better! In fact, I think my-" Ken's protests died away as the coughs wracked his thin frame. When the fit died down, Daisuke just hugged him.  
"I just want you to get better, Kenji-koi," he whispered, and then left the room. Ken picked up his book speculatively, but then set it aside and focused on his breakfast. A moment later, Daisuke returned with the medicine. "Here, Ken...just take it." Ken took the spoonful into his mouth, and his face twisted uncomfortably. "Ken?" A moment later, Daisuke was covered in the orange, sticky medication.  
"I told you, that stuff is indigestible," Ken retorted.  
  
***  
  
"How are those cough drops, Ken?"  
"Fine," the bluenette replied. He pulled the blanket on the couch closer to him, and watched as Daisuke lugged the Dayquil-stained sheets to the laundry. He opened his book and continued to read until Daisuke returned. "Suke-chan, aren't you going to paint or anything today?"  
"No, not while my Kenji-koi's sick. I'm going to take care of you until you're better."  
"I..." Ken felt a blush spread on his cheeks. "Thanks, Suke-chan. I-that's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me." Daisuke stopped, and just stared at Ken for a minute.  
"Ken, I love you. I'd do anything for you." Ken smiled, coughing faintly. "Ah, Ken..." Daisuke moved to sit next to him, pulling his boyfriend into a light embrace. "You're going to be better soon, I know."  
"Yeah, but I feel lousy." Ken leaned into Daisuke's embrace, resisting the urge to whimper. "Thanks so much, Suke-chan." Daisuke grinned, burying his face in Ken's blue locks.  
"As I said, it's all 'cause I love you, Kenji-koi."  
  
***  
  
Daisuke sat by the edge of their bed, watching his blue-haired boyfriend sleep. After a raging battle during which Ken had stopped several times to cough up a pint of phlegm, Ken had finally acquiesced to being put to bed. And Daisuke was happy for the brief respite, when Ken looked peaceful, healthy, untroubled...Ken coughed quietly in his sleep.  
"Ken, my Kenji-koi, please get better. It hurts to see you sick." Then, acting on impulse, he slid into the bed next to Ken, wrapping his arms around him. "Just sleep, Kenji-koi."  
  
***  
  
"We've all been worried about Ichijouji-san, and...well, I made soup."  
"You cooked? Are you trying to poison me? It's dishonorable to kick a man while he's down." Ken's amused voice echoed from the couch, and Leah glared.  
"And tell him that if he keeps insulting my cooking, I'm moving back to Ohio."  
"You don't have the nerve!"  
"Arigato, Leah-san, and please, just leave before Ken decides to actually get up. It's been taking all my efforts to keep him in bed-"  
"I'll bet!" she retorted cheerfully.  
"Just go," Daisuke said mock-angrily, pushing the secretary out the door. Turning to his boyfriend, "You are in no condition to mock your employees."  
"But it's Leah-" Ken began.  
"Look, you're sick..."  
"I'm not made out of glass," Ken replied. "And I've been resting all week. I'm fine, really. In fact, I'm going back to work tomorrow." Daisuke started uncertainly.  
"Kenji-koi..." Ken smiled up at the red-head. He took Daisuke's hand in his.  
"Suke-chan, you're been great all week, taking care of me, making sure I'm comfortable...but I'm better now." He stood up and pulled Daisuke into an embrace. "It's great to know that you'll be there to take care of me, but now, well, I've been sick for a week..." Daisuke grinned and kissed him fiercely.  
  
***  
  
"Ken, if I was that sick, you'd take care of me, right?" Ken snuggled against Daisuke, smiling.  
"Of course, Suke-chan. Why wouldn't I? You're *my* Suke-chan, and I wouldn't let my Suke-chan be sick." Ken twisted his neck to lay a kiss on Daisuke's lips. "That's all there is to it."  
"Ah." They were silence for a few minutes, and then: "Ken?"  
"Mmm?"  
"Ai shiteru."  
"Ai shiteru, Suke-chan."  
  
***  
  
"You two are nauseating, you know that?" Miyako took a long swig of her Diet Coke, scowling. "Always kissing and murmuring 'ai shiteru' and..." She trailed off, poking her ice. "It's sweet, but sometimes it is just *so* annoying."  
"And Yamato and Taichi hanging all over each other *isn't* annoying?"  
"Eh! Hormones don't really get annoying. It's the emotional, lovey-dovey crap that drives me nuts."  
"What, you don't ever tell Hikari that you love her?" Miyako shrugged.  
"She knows it."  
"Does she?"  
"I mean, I...do you know what? I've got to go." Miyako threw a few dollars on the table and hurried out of the restaurant. Daisuke simply smiled and called for the check.  
  
***  
  
"Yagami-san, there's a phone call for you." Hikari took the receiver, and spoke.  
"Moshi moshi."  
"Hika-chan?"  
"Miyako? I'm at work." The other woman's voice sounded nervous as she replied.  
"Hikari, I was just calling to tell you...I love you."  
"Miya..."  
"That's all, really. I'll see you at home."  
"Ja."  
"Ja."  
  
***  
  
"Hey, Suke-chan." Daisuke froze in the door of the apartment.  
"Kenji-koi, what are you doing home?" Ken appeared in the door of the kitchen, wearing an apron.  
"I came home early to make dinner. Well, mostly ramen. But I made a chocolate cake. Well, quadruple chocolate."  
"How do you do that?"  
"Chocolate with chocolate chips and chocolate syrup with chocolate frosting."  
"Oh, Ken...you really didn't have to do this."  
"I know that. I wanted to."  
"So, dinner is ramen and cake?"  
"And Chianti." Daisuke's eyes narrowed.  
"You just want the alcohol to offset the sugar," he accused. Ken just smiled.  
"It'll be another few minutes."  
"Okay. I'll just wait here." Daisuke sat at their table. It was cute how Ken felt the need to reciprocate, but also touching. He was confident of Ken, but Ken's insecurity demanded proof. And if that resulted in chocolate cake, Daisuke wasn't about to argue.  
  
***  
  
Thank you for bearing with me. I just had to write something fluffy, and Masquerade Ken&Dai are very conducive to that. I hope you enjoyed. 


End file.
